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60 R60/2 questions

Hello; I noticed in our local free ad paper, an ad for a '60 R60/2, 7000 original miles, in need of a clean up, all there, not used for 34 years, $2900.

It's in Nanaimo, and being Christmas I won't be able to get there to look as it until my company leaves, in the new year.

Is there anything I should look for? I have always admired those earlier ones when I rode british bikes.

I do about 12000 miles a year on my /7 now, and would probably put 3 or 4 thousand on it a year, not taking it off the island at all, but then there's the possibility that I might fall in love with it as I have with my /7.

Will I be able to use regular gas with it, I hate having to use premium.

Re: 60 R60/2 questions

Originally posted by donkey doctor
Hello; I noticed in our local free ad paper, an ad for a '60 R60/2, 7000 original miles, in need of a clean up, all there, not used for 34 years, $2900.

That's a good price for a complete bike if it actually runs and the cosmetic bits are not in bad shape. But after sitting for so long, you have to count on replacing all the rubber parts and a new set of tires. You may well have bearings and seals that are bad in the motor, trans and final drive, if it hasn't been turned over routinely or if the oil is badly contaminated. The carbs will need to be cleaned. 7,000 miles is extremely low. If you don't have to go into the motor for other reasons you may be ok, but if there's any reason to suspect that the odometer isn't right, then you will want to consider the issue of the oil slingers.

As a side note, technically, the so-called /2 models were not introduced until the '61 model year, which began in 9/60. Registration seems to have been a very loose thing at the time and it's not uncommon for a bike to have the wrong year on its title. BMW hasn't published frame and motor numbers by year, so one must guess a bit.

My '61 R60/2 was built on 12/13/60 (according to BMW's Historical Archives) and is number 622336. The first R60/2 is 622001. This should give you an idea about this bike when you go look at it. The motor and frame numbers did originally match. The motor number is stamped above the pushrod tubes on the right side; the frame number is stamped into the steering head on the right side. The numbers should have small roundels bracketing them as an antitampering device.

Is there anything I should look for? I have always admired those earlier ones when I rode british bikes.

Jeff Dean once proposed a list of questions to ask a seller when inquiring about these bikes over the phone. We have a copy of it over on the slash2 mailing list web site. It's in the files section called slash2questions.

I do about 12000 miles a year on my /7 now, and would probably put 3 or 4 thousand on it a year, not taking it off the island at all, but then there's the possibility that I might fall in love with it as I have with my /7.

They are lots of fun. They top out around 85mph, but you have to keep in mind that they were designed in the early fifties and things were different then. The suspension is good, but acceleration is slow, the brakes are weak, the 6V electrical system is sufficient for the lighting, but the lighting is very poor by today's standards. The ignition, which uses a magneto and is completely separate from the electrical system, is extremely reliable... until the now-ancient coil gives up.

Will I be able to use regular gas with it, I hate having to use premium.

Yes, they run fine on regular. The R69S's have high compression and generally require premium.

Let me just add a couple more things. There's a very useful book, now out of print, called How to Restore Your BMW Motorcycle: Twins 1950-1969, by Roland Slabon. It comes up regularly on eBay and you may find it at various used book sites on the web.

Also, there are lots of resources for parts, advice and service available. BMW Mobile Tradition now has a parts catalog and you can actually order and buy parts for these bikes again at your local BMW dealer. Not everything is available, of course, and the prices are comensurate with the limited quantities they're producing.

If you do buy it, perhaps the two most important things to get are the official BMW parts manual and shop manual. Repros of each are available.

Craig Vechorick, who is writing the new Past Lane column for MOAN is the place to go for parts, service and advice on these bikes.